| Cheryl Harrison For the past two years I’ve had to regularly explain WHY I have been volunteering on the marketing committee for the 2015 Gay Softball World Series, one of -- if not THE -- largest LGBT sporting events in the world, which is coming to Columbus next month. Some people ask because I am myself not LGBT, although most people get that allies are active in the community, too. Some people ask because I rather vocally dislike all types of sportsball. Bats and bases just don’t do it for me. (Honestly, I probably won’t watch many, or any, of the softball games -- but hey, I will be at the after parties. Does that count?) No, the question I’m usually asked isn’t about my personal reasons for being involved -- it’s about WHY there is a “Gay” Softball World series in the first place. “Can’t they just play ‘regular’ softball?” “Why does there need to be a ‘gay’ version of everything?”

That WHY is the same as my WHY -- which has nothing to do with my sexual preference or affinity for sports. When I was at the 2014 Gay Softball World Series in Dallas last summer, I interviewed many of the players and organizers about why they’re involved. An ostracized man on the verge of suicide before finding a home on his city’s softball team. An athlete finally able to play a sport without hiding his real identity for fear of being beaten. And dozens more stories from men and women who finally found a place to fit in. I have plenty of LGBT friends who have found acceptance in the broader Columbus community. We are fortunate to live in a city that, for the most part, is embracing of diversity. But plenty of places -- like my southeast Ohio hometown, a large portion of the Southern United States, and, yes, even a jock-filled locker room in a city as “welcoming” as Columbus -- may not be. I’m a straight, sports-averse woman who’s volunteering with the 2015 Gay Softball World Series because I think everyone should have a place where they are safe to be themselves. So I’ll see you in August at the games -- or, let’s be honest, at the after parties.

Cheryl Harrison is the owner of public relations firm speechbubble and the editor of booze news blog DrinkUpColumbus.com, which has been voted one of the top blogs in the city for the past five years. Cheryl is a board game and sci-fi nerd and a constant advocate for craft beer and Columbus.